I Regret Getting My MBA

My intentions are not to make you think that I’m not proud of achieving the accomplishment of obtaining a master’s degree, the process comes with the good as well as the bad. I want to share my experiences and a few of the situations I faced during and after my time in the MBA program. The good – is the feeling of walking across the stage, knowing that you’ve made it through some of the toughest courses, the pats on the back from family and friends, and the possibility of a stable career. The bad – comes when you complete your M.B.A. while you’re unemployed, with no way of paying back your student loans. This is where my regret comes in.

I went into the M.B.A. program a year after getting my bachelor’s degree. I wanted to continue the learning process while I still had a student mindset and I figured it would help me stay competitive in the job market. At that time, I didn’t really know what I wanted to get out of a master’s degree. I knew it would look good on paper, but it never crossed my mind that if I didn’t have the experience to back up a master’s, it would be pointless to list it in the education section of my resume. Throughout my 3 year process in the MBA program, I was employed on and off. I took on many temporary positions from customer service and data entry to market research interviewing and blogging. It was a good way to feel out different career paths, but it came back to bite me in the end. I would advise anyone looking to get an advanced degree to work a stable job or at least be in the beginning stages of a career while pursuing the degree. You definitely don’t want to come out of a graduate program unemployed or with little experience in your desired field.

As graduation became closer in view, I decided it was time to rev up my job search and apply, apply, apply. I wanted to have a decent paying job by the time I graduated, so I could avoid being harassed by the soulless company that is Sallie Mae/Navient. After receiving what seemed like hundreds of rejection emails, I started to get a little desperate and decided to apply for positions that I thought I would be a shoo in for. Yeah, that didn’t work either. I have seven years of customer service experience and even those positions were rejecting me. If I was able to get an interview, managers would look at my resume, see my education level, and immediately ask why I want this type of position. They figure that if I have an advanced degree and a better position comes along, then I’ll leave. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I completely understand this way of thinking, but it sucks to the person who has bills and student loans looming over them.

Please don’t take this post as just another millennial complaint. I don’t fully regret the process. I am proud of the way I pushed myself, the lessons I learned, and the hard work I put in. But of course there are things I wish I could go back and do differently like, acquiring relevant experience, finding a mentor who had been through the process, or being more proactive in finding a career. I would’ve also considered what the master’s degree process entailed before I racked up over $100k in student loans. The silver lining in this is that I leaned on hope and faith throughout the entire MBA process, and I will continue to do so. The road has not been easy, but I have faith that a career (one that I love) will come. I will not always live in my parents’ house and one day I will be able to say “I paid Sallie Mae back.” Oh how I look forward to uttering those words.

I’m not sure, maybe. I probably would’ve taken out the minimum and looked for more grants and scholarships. I think I would have sought financial advice to see the best way to go about the loan process and ways to invest and make money.

I got my MBA at a pretty young age myself. Shortly after my undergrad. It was a rocky start I must admit, but you will find what you love to do and your career will pick up. Just believe in yourself and the rest will follow. Oh and pay off that student loan debt when you do very quickly. Paid off my $120k (me and my husbands) and it has been the best thing that we could do for ourselves thus far.
Stay strong and keep proactive, good things will come

Did you hit the lottery to pay it off, because that’s what I’m hoping for lol. Thank you advice and the encouragement. Just knowing that it’s possible to come out of this situation successfully gives me hope. 😁

Lol. No but I had to move to a city with more job prospects for young millennial with less experience. Where I was living before it was too competitive for a newbie like me. As I build my work experience I hope more options will open for me to work anywhere I want in the future.

I’m literally doing my MSc right now, and every employer I’ve interviewed with has been put off by my lack of experience. I find myself now advising others not to do one unless it is absolutely necessary for the job you want!

Yes, yes, yes!!! Or unless you have some experience. But I’m starting to think it’s not so bad after all. I’m glad I’ve gotten it done and over with. I won’t have to work in my career and try to go to school at the same time. I’ve become a bit more optimistic since I wrote the post.

Yes hahah I’m in the exact same boat =] Well good luck! Getting a masters is really impressive and I’m sure helped you grow as an individual. It sucks now, but I’ll try to send positive vibes your way! It can only get better.

Awww thank you! I appreciate it! I definitely think it helped me grow educationally and professionally. I don’t think I would have my job now if I didn’t have my mba. I just wish I would’ve planned the process out better and looked for more grants and scholarships.

I like your candidness. I finished my MBA a year ago. I went full-time and luckily I received a full-tuition fellowship. However, I totally agree that people should work between undergrad and B-school to make themselves more competitive candidates. The degree is great but experience is usually essential

Absolutely! Most of my classmates were in actual careers, and there I was working a job I knew wasn’t going to last. I just wish I had planned things out better even if I wasn’t in a career. The good thing is that I’ve gotten it out of the way and I can solely focus on my career.

Though I don’t regret everything I learned and the wonderful people I met while earning a doctorate, the process is antiqued, academia is filled with egos that can never be sated, and power and words are wielded like swords. For me it helps to focus on how I immersed 100% in the process of learning and value that gave me. Thank you for liking my post, “Today I am Grateful,” I appreciate it.

I’m really happy I came across your post. I recently graduated from a top 30 business school, and I am on the undesirable side of the 94% job placement statistic my school’s career management services claims for my class. It has been nearly 6 months since graduation, but I have now been applying for jobs for over a year. I have lost track of how many I have applied for. Things are so off course from my plans that I barely feel as if I ever really had one. At this point, it is hard to look back without being overwhelmed with regret. I’ve been asked if I could go back and do things differently what would I do, and my honest answer is nothing.There are things I wish had turned out differently, of course, but I did everything: I attended every event, I met every one of my classmates (it was a relatively small class of about 120), I networked, I socialized, I applied for every opportunity, I worked hard, I had two amazing abroad experiences, I connected with professors, I joined and led organizations, I did case competitions. I am pretty sure I used the career management resources more than anyone else in my class (although that isn’t a fair assessment since most of my classmates didn’t need their services once having accepted an offer). I don’t mean to air my dirty laundry here and be anymore negative than I already am being. That wasn’t why I wanted to leave this message. I guess I just wanted to say thank you for reminding me that I am not alone in feeling this way. I did really enjoy my time and made many amazing friends, but at this point it is really hard to believe it wasn’t a huge mistake. I am really struggling, more than my friends and parents and support network know or understand, and reading this post just helped alleviate some of that. Thank you Crystal.

Thank you so much for reading my post and thank you for sharing your story and I don’t think you were airing your dirty laundry lol, I think you are being honest and transparent! I completely understand your struggle. I think the most important thing you can do while going through the struggle is to embrace it, find the silver lining in it, and let it humble you. I think it really prepares you for life. This sounds weird and crazy, but I feel really fortunate to have struggled right after school and I’m not completely out of the woods yet, I’m probably 1 or 2 mistakes away from going back to eating ramen noodles lol. The people who are successful right out of school and struggle later in life have it harder, but our initial struggle prepares us for future challenges. Also, this is the best time to do what you love to do or go after what you really want. Everything will fall into place at the right time, you just have to have faith that it will.

Great post! It’s hard to be vulnerable and share your struggles with the world, but as you can see, you are certainly not alone! A lot of people can learn from reading this. Mind if I decide to share on my page?:)

Thank you!!! Ideally, I would like to work as a fashion and interior stylist, while writing about what I know. That’s what I’m most passionate about. I’m trying to do it all, I just hope it works out. ☺

If you’re not in the process of doing this already, try creating a portfolio of different fashion/interior looks. You can even incorporate those two things together in your pics. You can use it to give yourself experience and then show possible employers what you can do. and keep blogging because your blog is experience as well. Use Canva.com to create because its free. We have to create our own opportunities lol. That’s what I’m doing. Also, instagram is great as well to show employers what you can accomplish. Everyone is into social media. Just continue to get your active follower count up. I’m trying to figure out what kind of aesthetic I want for my instagram.

I totally agree! I’ve been creating ideas with polyvore and working on getting more exposure and I’ve gotten a few clients just from my polyvore sets, I just don’t want things to go stale. I’ll be revamping my blog in a few weeks, it’s exciting. I’m just glad to be blogging for myself now, blogging for other people and companies isn’t as fun and interesting. I learned about Canva from my previous blogging job, it is definitely a great resource and so is pixabay. Social media helps out a lot, especially instagram and facebook. I’ve been boosting my posts, which helped me get a lot more followers and traffic. When it comes to Instagram, I don’t think it would hurt to try out a few things on IG to see what works and what doesn’t. Trial and error. ☺

What a great blog Crystal! I’ve gone through the same heartache, but I went a different way. I graduated in 2008 (really not a good time to graduate) from a media course at a time when the first positions companies were laying off were media positions. I jumped from different industry to different industry, each time I took it seriously, but there were no easy paths. Until, at one point when I was about 24 I said, screw it, if noone is going to give me the opportunity to grow I am going to take it myself. I am now midway through a PhD, and onto my 2nd startup, having failed my first, have a solid real estate business with my partner and I have learnt an incredible amount over the last 3 years.

The reality is that nearly 3/4 of the jobs in the future don’t exist yet and most unskilled, semi skilled and even skilled jobs will be automated within our lifetime. The jobs that won’t be will be either highly technical or highly creative. I feel like I got an MBA-like education out in the field and that’s made me look at situations critically and creatively.

Would I change anything? Maybe, everyone lives with regrets, anyone who says differently is in denial, my path was painful, long and thankless, but am I happy and fulfilled, yes, that is true as well, and noone can live off regret. Those days where you could get a 9to5, make a solid living, get a big house and have a family are pretty much over. We are at a turning point in history and you have an MBA, which gives you a ticket to leverage what’s coming.

Thank you so much for your advice and congratulations on working toward your PhD! I think now is the time for a lot of us to go after what we really want. Like you said, some positions don’t exist yet, so we have to create them. I got my MBA thinking I would come out of school guaranteed a job with a decent salary and that was a terrible mistake. I’ve now realized I want to do what actually makes me happy and not just pays the bills. We have the opportunity to live a happier, less stressful life than our parents and grandparents and I’m ready to take advantage of that. Thank you so much for reading my blog! ♥♥♥

wow thank you for sharing and being so candid. I am looking to pursue my MBA but i am not rushing into it even though i feel pressures all around. I really hope everything works out for you and it will. Sharing this post everywhere lol. It helped me and im sure it will help alot of others.

I’ve been thinking about doing my Psychology Masters, I was almost certain that if I was to, I wouldn’t start one until after a year or two of work experience. Recently, I thought about walking straight into a Masters after my undergrad. I was going to either take and international experience year or a masters abroad. This post has such a good insight and given me a lot to think about. Thank you so much for writing it with such integrity and honesty!

Thank you for reading it!!! ❤️ It’s one of those situations where you just have to do what feels right to you, even if it’s just for the moment. I sometimes wish I would’ve taken advantage of more/better internship opportunities or worked with my school’s career services to find something more substantial, but if I never took this route, I wouldn’t have my blog. The right decision will come, what is meant to be will be. I wish you the best on your journey, let me know how everything works out! 🙂

Good on you, Crystal! More people need to hear this side of it and consider the ramifications of racking up all that debt. And yet, you can still be very proud of your accomplishment. I’m almost 50 and I never finished my bachelor’s. I did ok in life anyway, but I wish I had been able to stay in college. I think someday I’ll go back. Not for a degree, but just to learn. Education is valuable, but the system has done everyone a disservice by trying to tie the value of education to how much money we can make. Thank you for sharing your perspective so honestly!

That is an amazing point!!! Instead of hyping up how much experience we will need and giving us as much information on jobs and internships as possible, they harp on about how much money we will make with a degree and even more with an advanced degree. The education system is terrible! And I came out of the MBA program feeling like I barely learned anything that can actually be applied. Now I have to pay thousands of dollars for continuing education courses to learn what I should’ve learned in undergrad and grad school. Schools are just financial institutions in disguise. Thank you so much for reading my post!!! ❤️

You’ve got an excellent attitude about all this. It can be tempting to blame the system for manipulating/selling graduate school as an alternative to work. It’s tempting because there is truth in it. But I think you’re right to take this attitude as the only way out is through. You’ll make it, I bet. You seem tough.